


Sisters of the Heart

by Calico_Cat_TIVA_Fan



Category: NCIS
Genre: Family, Gen, Ladies weekend, Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 06:16:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14302635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calico_Cat_TIVA_Fan/pseuds/Calico_Cat_TIVA_Fan
Summary: Ziva, Delilah, Abby and Breena have a weekend away from kids and husbands. Part of the "You Complete Me" universe.





	1. Friday, 5 April 2030

Sisters of the Heart

_Ziva, Delilah, Abby, and Breena have a girls' weekend: April 2030._

Chapter 1: Friday, April 5

** _Mid-January 2030: Breena laid the brochures out on the table for her sisters of the heart to examine. "It's two nights and two days of no kids, no husbands, no household chores; just us four getting some relaxation and pampering. What do you say ladies?"_

_Abby looked at the pictures of the amenities at the spa resort. "I'm in for sure. Come on, Ziva, Delilah, you guys deserve this." Leon supported Abby in her time with her sisters of the heart. He encouraged her to spend time with them._

_"I'm in," Delilah looked at Ziva. "Say yes, Ziva, we have all earned this time to ourselves!" Her twins were twelve and they and Tim would be okay on their own for a weekend._

_Ziva thumbed through the brochures, chewing her finger as she thought about it. "Okay, I will go." Tony would be okay with the five kids for a weekend; LJ, the youngest, was eight, and all the kids were good about helping out around the house._

_Breena pulled up the website on her computer and the four women signed up as a group for the first weekend in April. Jimmy would be glad to hear that she and the others had followed through on his suggestion to her._

_All four women marked 5 April through 7 April on their phone calendars. They were looking forward to a weekend of their own._ **

~Sisters~

Breena, Delilah, and Abby each took a half day off on Friday; they would be leaving at 1230 for the three hour drive to the resort. Delilah offered to use her minivan for travel, so the others arrived at the McGee house about 1215 and put their travel bags in the vehicle. Abby had picked up Ziva on her way so that Ziva could leave the family van at the DiNozzo house. Breena arrived about the same time as Abby and Ziva.

Abby shared the latest pictures of Kayla's stepchildren and of Kayla's baby bump. Ziva noticed how Abby spoke lovingly of both Kayla and Jared and was glad that her friend had found a family. The four women chatted as they drove to the resort. Ziva and Delilah were in front, and Abby and Breena in the middle row of seats. Traffic was not bad for a Friday afternoon and they arrived at the resort in just over three hours.

They checked in to the front desk and were shown to their suite. There were two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a sitting area and a kitchenette. Ziva and Delilah shared a room and Abby and Breena shared the other room. The entire suite was wheelchair accessible and Delilah navigated with ease. The hostess who had shown them to the suite told them that they would have about an hour to get settled in and then their personal assistant for the weekend would come and help them plan their activities for the stay as well as get their meal selections for Saturday's dinner banquet.

Ziva put her bag on the stand by the twin bed nearest the window. Delilah had picked the bed closer to the door and bathroom, which suited Ziva just fine. She liked the view out their window of the trees and a small lake. Delilah checked the bedroom and sitting area for an internet port for her computer. Finding none, she used her phone to check for a Wi-Fi signal. No Wi-Fi either.

Delilah looked over at Ziva sitting and staring out the window. "Ziva, do you have a Wi-Fi signal?"

Ziva broke her musing and looked at her phone, "No, but I remember something about disconnecting from devices in the confirmation letters we received. I do not think we will be able to connect."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. I guess Tim was right when he insisted that I didn't need to bring my computer!" Delilah put her laptop bag on the chair by her bed. "I guess I should pay more attention to what I read!"

Ziva chuckled, "We will have to truly disconnect for the weekend, I guess. We are so accustomed to our instant access with our devices; maybe we are too dependent on them."

Delilah laughed with her sister, "Can you even imagine trying to get Tim and Tony to disconnect for a weekend? Tim would be trying to get connected within two hours."

"Tony would be okay with it, if he knew ahead of time. But, if it meant that he could not watch his movies, he would be like a two year old about to have a tantrum." Ziva smiled at the mental image.

A sharp rap at the door for the suite interrupted the conversation. All four women moved into the sitting area as Abby opened the door.

"Hi, I'm Chantal and I'm your personal coordinator for the weekend." Ziva and Delilah exchanged glances; Chantal looked to be about twenty years old. "May I come in?"

Abby motioned to her and opened the door further. All five took seats in the sitting area as Chantal smiled at them. She looked at her list: Abby, Breena, Delilah, and Ziva. "Let's start by introducing ourselves. As I said, I'm Chantal, and I'm your personal coordinator. I love working here, and this is my first job out of college. I have a degree in sports and nutrition, focusing on wellness and overall health maintenance. I'm twenty four and engaged to be married to my best friend from elementary school. I've known her since we were six. Who's next?"

Abby spoke up, "I'm Abby Sciuto-Vance. I am a forensic analyst for NCIS, and I love my job. My husband, Leon is the Director of NCIS. I have two step-children, Kayla and Jared, and two grandchildren, with another on the way. I LOVE Halloween and all sorts of geeky things. And, no, I am not a Goth; I am ME!" Ziva, Delilah and Breena smiled at Abby's last statement. Abby would always be uniquely Abby!

"I'm Breena Palmer. I am the business manager at Slater's Funeral Home. I work with my dad, who is a mortician. I have two teenagers; Victoria is almost fifteen and Charles just turned twelve. Jimmy, my husband, is the Chief Medical Examiner at NCIS." Chantal nodded at Breena and checked her list.

Delilah spoke next, "I'm Delilah McGee, and I work for the DoD. I am a security analyst. My husband, Tim is Senior Special Agent and supervisor of the Major Case Response Team at NCIS. We have twins, John and Katie, who are twelve years old."

Chantal looked at Ziva expectantly. Ziva responded to the question, "I am Ziva DiNozzo. I was born in Israel, but I am a United States citizen. I am a translator for NCIS. My soul mate and husband, Tony works at FLETC training agents from many organizations. We have five children: Tali is almost sixteen, Anthony is almost thirteen, Rivka and Beth are ten, and LJ is eight."

"NCIS… seems to be a common thread with you four. What is the organization?"

"Naval Criminal Investigative Service." All four responded in unison. Chantal grinned at them.

"We have a bigger common thread, if you want to know." Abby piped in. "We are family of the heart. Gibbs is our father of the heart. We are sisters." Chantal looked from Abby to Breena to Delilah to Ziva. All four were smiling and nodding.

Chantal thought to herself that an interesting story must be behind this family, but that would be later. She spread out the lists of activities that the guests could choose. "We have several types of activities here: exercise, wellness, relaxation, group discussion, creative expression, music, and arts and crafts. You may choose any or all of the types and within each type are multiple options. For example, in the exercise activities, you may choose swimming, yoga, aerobic dance, weight training, hiking, cycling, canoeing or step aerobics.

"The schedule of activities includes some of each type for each segment. Each segment lasts approximately ninety minutes. Lunch and dinner are at the times noted on the schedule. There are two lunch sessions and one dinner session. After dinner, there is a group activity that is for all guests and then more individual choices until nine o'clock.

"Breakfast is between six thirty and eight thirty on Saturday morning and between seven thirty and nine on Sunday. We also have interfaith services on Sunday at nine fifteen. I will need your meal selection for dinner tomorrow as that is a catered meal. All others are self-serve food bars.

"Any questions?" The four looked over the lists and Ziva asked, "When do we have to make our choices of activities?"

"You can decide at the beginning of a session. The only things we ask are that you be prompt to any activities and don't leave in the middle of a session unless there is an emergency.

"Dinner tonight is at six o'clock in the main dining room. All of the weekend guests will be there and you will have an assigned table. There will be at least three others at your table, so you can get to meet the others. The only other meal with assigned seating is dinner tomorrow."

Each of the four chose her meal options for Saturday's dinner banquet and handed the sheet to Chantal. Ziva reviewed the selections for sessions that night and made several check marks next to ones that sounded interesting. She wondered what the group activity would be after dinner.

Abby asked if there was any specific dress code for the weekend and Chantal replied that all except the dinner on Saturday were casual dress or appropriate clothing for the specific activity. Saturday night's dinner was "church attire."

Chantal left the group discussing the evening's activity. About half an hour later, Delilah noted that the time was 1730 and suggested that they head towards the dining room. Ziva, Abby and Delilah headed to the dining area; Breena said that she would follow shortly.

Ziva and Delilah found the table assigned to the sisters. Abby spotted an acquaintance at another table and went over to say hello. Ziva noticed Breena entering the room and waved her over to their table. The three chose their seats at the table, and waited for Abby and the four other guests who were assigned to their table to be seated.

As Abby made her way back to the sisters' table, the other four women approached from the entrance to the dining room. Two of them looked very much alike and when they introduced themselves as cousins, Abby remarked that they could be sisters. Their names were Stefanie and Rebekkah and when the Gibbs girls heard the names, each one smiled to herself! The other two women, Dianne and Jenn, were in the same suite as the cousins but did not know any of their suitemates. Abby and Ziva exchanged looks; this was too weird! Abby whispered to Ziva, "Rule 39!"

The Gibbs daughters introduced themselves, and Abby, who was the last one, added that the four were sisters. The other four looked from one to the next. Ziva smiled, "We are sisters of the heart. Our father of the heart thinks of all of us as his daughters."

"Sounds like an interesting story," Jenn remarked.

"Oh, it is!" Abby bubbled. Ziva and Delilah looked at each other, smirked and rolled their eyes. Abby was ready to tell the story, but a woman stepped up to the podium at the front of the room and called for the groups to quiet.

She looked around the room and welcomed them all to the resort and the weekend of relaxation and fun. She introduced herself as one of the co-owners of the spa and resort. She told an abbreviated story of how she and her business partner had founded the resort and developed it as a retreat for women. She finished by encouraging the guests to have fun, unwind and refresh. As the group applauded, wait staff started serving the dinner.

As all of them enjoyed the grilled salmon, rice pilaf and broccoli, cauliflower and baby carrot vegetable medley, the women chatted with each other. Each shared what job she had, and those who were parents shared about their children. Abby showed pictures of her grandchildren as did Dianne. Rebekkah was a single mom of two teens, Jenn had twin five year old boys, and Stefanie was single, no kids, just fur babies.

After a dessert of cheesecake with raspberry sauce, the group was divided into four smaller groups. Each of the smaller groups went with one of the personal coordinators. Chantal led the eight from the sisters' table, another eight from a second table, and four from a third table to a room down a short hallway from the dining room. As each woman entered, she was handed a sealed envelope.

Chantal told the group to have a seat to begin the activity. She explained that they would be doing a "get to know you" exercise to learn about the other guests. She handed each of them a piece of paper with questions to ask so that each one could gather information to introduce a partner to the rest of the group. To determine who each one was partnered with, they had to find the person who had a matching piece to the one in their envelopes. She told them to open the envelopes and pair up.

Ziva opened her envelope to find half of a picture of a cat. Delilah opened her envelope and smiled, turning her picture towards Ziva; she had the other half of the cat! Abby opened her envelope and started laughing. When she turned the picture towards her sisters, they also laughed. Abby had a picture of half of a hippopotamus! Breena's picture was of half of a horse. Breena and Abby went to look for their partners, while Ziva and Delilah moved off to the side to work on the question sheet.

Delilah looked at the first question on her list and laughed out loud. Ziva gave her a questioning look. "You asked for it… If you could be any Disney Princess, which one would you be and why?" Delilah couldn't think of her own answer to this question and wondered what Ziva would answer.

"What? Disney Princess? Well, our girls have been through all of them at one time or another, and Tony has made sure we have seen every one of the movies… Let me think on this one." Ziva was stumped; she had never thought about being a princess, let alone a Disney princess. While she was trying to come up with an answer, she glanced at the first question for Delilah. "Uh, oh, you have one just as crazy. What movie describes your life and why?"

Delilah grinned at Ziva, "Tony should be answering that one! I have to think on the answer, too."

"What are the other questions? Maybe we can answer some of the others first, and come back to these," Ziva suggested. "Your next one is: what is your greatest life accomplishment?"

"That one's easy; my family and my marriage." Delilah didn't even have to think on that one. "Here is your next question: what do you consider your spirit animal? Dang, Ziva, you have some weird questions to answer!"

Ziva thought a minute, "The eagle is my spirit animal. The eagle mates for life, and is fiercely loyal to its chosen mate. The eagle soars above the storms that drag others down and the eagle is resilient and resourceful."

"That's you to a T, Ziva! I like it." Delilah had not thought about her sister as an eagle until Ziva described the characteristics of eagles. "What's my next question?"

"What is your favorite animal? Why?" Ziva thought she knew the answer, but kept quiet while her sister thought about it.

"Hmm, my favorite animal is the squirrel. A squirrel is smart enough to save food for times when it is not available, so it is resourceful. A squirrel also knows how to get food from humans and to socialize when it needs to, so it is adaptable. Plus, squirrels are cute," Delilah surprised Ziva with her answer. "Don't tell Tim that, though, after he spent all that time trying to get them out of our trees!"

Ziva smiled; she remembered that fall when Tim had essentially declared war on the squirrels, and had tried to trap them and move them elsewhere. He swore that several of the wily creatures had kept coming back to the McGee backyard just to taunt him.

"Here's your next one Ziva: what is your greatest accomplishment?" Delilah was pretty sure she knew Ziva's answer to this one.

"Redefining myself and changing who I am. My family, my marriage, my life as it all happened. I would not change any of it, Dee. There are some parts that I would rather not revisit, but each one was necessary to get where I am today." Ziva was probably more content with her whole life than most people. Delilah nodded, she understood exactly what Ziva meant; she herself had some parts of her life that she would not relive, but they were a necessary part of her journey to today.

Chantal reminded the women that their time for question and answers was almost up; next they would be introducing their partner. Many of the pairs, such as Abby and her partner, a drummer for a band, had answered all of the questions. Most of the pairs, such as Breena and her partner, had answered the majority of the questions. Breena's partner was a high school English teacher. A few of the pairs had only answered two or three questions, but had discussed them in depth, as Ziva and Delilah had. After the introductions, Chantal sent them to the last activity for the day.

All four of the Gibbs sisters chose to go to the relaxation activities that included working on jigsaw puzzles, board games and card games. Ziva, Delilah and Breena worked on a jigsaw puzzle that had a picture of a meadow of wildflowers. Abby played gin rummy with a group of seven other women, and the other three could hear Abby's squeals when she won a round.

At 2100, the groups were told that they could stay and visit with others in the main sitting room or go back to their own suites. Abby and Breena stayed to visit with some of the others, but Ziva and Delilah chose to go back to their suite. Delilah remarked to Ziva as they headed down the hallway to their suite, "I need some down time away from people to recharge!" Ziva nodded in agreement.

Both Ziva and Delilah changed into pajamas and curled up on their beds to read. They left a light on in the sitting area for Abby and Breena to be able to see when they came in. Delilah fell asleep before Ziva; Ziva fell asleep before the other two came in for the night.


	2. Saturday, 6 April

Chapter 2: Saturday, April 6

Ziva awoke at 0442, missing the familiar warmth of Tony next to her. After checking the time on her phone, she rolled to her side, curling up as she would with Tony spooned behind her. She sighed, not realizing that she made a sound that was audible to Delilah.

"Ziva? You okay?" Delilah whispered, not wanting to wake Ziva if she were still asleep. Ziva turned towards the second bed in the room.

"Missing Tony. I will be fine." Ziva whispered back. "I am sorry if I woke you."

Delilah smiled to herself, "I was already awake; missing Tim next to me!"

Ziva couldn't help herself, she giggled. "We are supposed to be enjoying our time to ourselves this weekend! And here we are missing our husbands."

Delilah giggled back, "Yeah, even missing the stupid things like Tim putting his cold feet on my side of the bed."

"Or Tony's snoring…" Ziva laughed, "Or when he buries his face in my hair and then drools in his sleep all over my hair."

Delilah laughed, "Tim drools on my shoulder sometimes. Worse than a teething toddler!" Both women laughed; then Delilah turned serious. "Even with Tim's drooling, I still wouldn't trade him for anything. Even when it seems as though I have three children, he's still my soulmate."

Ziva sighed again, "I know how that feels. Tony is a big kid at heart, but I love him for it. My life was completed when I met him. I have loved him for so long that I cannot remember when he was not in my heart."

Delilah thought about Ziva's comment, "When did you know you loved him?"

"The minute I met him, Dee. It was as though his soul drew mine to him and mine drew his to me. We never let go of the other, nor would we ever want to do so." Ziva had never shared that feeling with anyone other than Tony. "What about you and Tim? When did you know?"

"Second date, when Tim held my hand as we walked out of the restaurant. At that moment, I could see us together, for the long haul." Both women were quiet, reflecting on their marriages and their soulmates.

"Thank you for sharing, Ziva. I'm going to try to go back to sleep for a while."

"Thank you for sharing as well." Ziva listened to Delilah's breathing even out and she rolled onto her side again, drifting back to sleep.

~Sisters~

Abby was awake at 0730 and not long after the other three were awakened by Abby bouncing about and singing good morning to her sisters. She was excited about the day together and for relaxing and having fun. "Come on, let's go get some breakfast and get this day started. I hope they have Caf-POW! Ziva, I saw last night that they have your Earl Grey tea and…"

Breena put a hand on Abby's arm, "We get it, Abby. You're excited. It takes some of us a bit longer to get going in the morning, though!" Ziva and Delilah smiled a silent 'Thank you' at Breena and went about their morning routines. All four were ready to head to breakfast in about twenty minutes, and they went to the dining area, talking about the choices for the day's activities.

Abby was excited to see Caf-POW as one of the beverage choices and filled a large cup of the beverage. Ziva had a hard time choosing between the spinach and mushroom quiche and the veggie omelet. Delilah solved the decision when she suggested that Ziva take a half portion of each one. Then Delilah put the same food on her plate, and Ziva laughed. Breena went for the oatmeal with fresh strawberries and Abby chose the fruit and yogurt parfait. Abby and Breena went to sit with several women they had met the night before.

Ziva and Delilah looked around at the tables; Ziva spotted three of the women who had been at their dinner table the night before, so the sisters headed to that table. One of the women was telling about the last time she was at the resort and the classes she enjoyed then. Ziva and Delilah and the others listened, hoping the stories would help them decide which sessions to attend.

Ziva looked over the list of sessions and marked several that sounded interesting. At 0900, she marked the aerobic dance session, with a smaller mark next to the relaxation aerobics as a second choice. At 1045, her choice was an easy one; the outdoor garden walk was her only choice. She had seen some of the gardens from their bedroom window, and many of the flowers were in bloom and bud. "What sessions are you interested in, Dee?" She looked at her sister.

"I think I'm going to go to the aerobic dance at 0900 and the garden walk at 1045. How about you?" Delilah asked.

"Same choices!" Ziva smiled at Delilah. "I wonder what Abby and Breena are choosing?"

"I heard Abby say something about bowling, so maybe that's where she's going." Ziva agreed that was a likely activity for Abby since she enjoyed her bowling nights with the nuns.

Ziva and Delilah found the room for the aerobic dance and entered. There were about a dozen participants; Ziva noticed some of them eying Delilah's wheelchair. She tried to ignore the stares, but finally had to turn her back to the others. They would find out soon enough that nothing limited her sister. She would show them!

The group instructor came in the room and started the group on warm up stretches. She then went through different steps and moves for practice of each one. Finally, she put on the music and called out the moves as the group performed them. Ziva and Delilah kept up as the pace quickened and several others dropped out. There were four left, including Ziva and Delilah, as the beat ramped up again. The ones who dropped out were doing cool down exercises on the side of the room. Another of the women dropped as the tempo sped up yet again. Ziva and Delilah kept the pace, and moved in synch. Delilah noticed how focused Ziva was, and knew if the pace quickened again, Ziva would keep on going. Delilah was not sure how much faster she could go, though.

After another speed up, Delilah had to call it quits. She moved to the side and did the cool down exercises, watching Ziva moving lithely. The other woman still participating was tiring. A final increase in tempo left Ziva the sole participant. As the music stopped, Ziva started the cool down exercises to applause from the others. Even the instructor was impressed. She asked Ziva if she was an aerobic dance instructor.

"Not hardly," smiled Ziva. "I have other training that helps me focus and move." Ziva did not want to say more, because she did not like to talk about her Mossad and Kidon days. Those times were in her past and not a part of who she was now.

Meanwhile, Abby had joined the bowling session. She had paired with a woman from New Jersey. The two of them had bowled the highest scores of the group. Some of them asked Abby her secret for getting a high score. "I'm a scientist, so I try to make the path of the ball a precise arc. I also practice a lot, and I bowl with nuns every Saturday. We are number one in our league."

Breena had chosen the jewelry making session. She made a pendant with the birth stones of herself, Jimmy, Tori and Charles. She added the stones to wires that she twisted to form a tree. Several others in the class admired her work, wishing they could make something as nice. "It's all in visualizing the final product," Breena explained. "If I can see it in my mind, I can make it."

At 1045, Breena, Ziva and Delilah went on the gardens walk. Abby chose to stay at the bowling session. Ziva took pictures of several of the more uncommon flowering plants, also taking a picture of the sign telling the name of the plant. She was hoping to put some new plants in her gardens at home. The morning was warm for early April and sunny. All in the group enjoyed the time outside and learning about the plants in the gardens.

Lunch was served from 1200 until 1330. Ziva, Delilah and Breena went to lunch from the garden walk, meeting Abby at the dining room. Each chose an entrée and dessert, plus a beverage. As they ate, they shared their experiences in the morning sessions. Breena showed them the pendant she had made in the jewelry making class. Abby, Ziva and Delilah looked on the schedule for another jewelry making session in the afternoon. There was a session starting at 1230, so they ate quickly and headed towards the room for jewelry making. Breena chose to go to the water aerobics class at 1245.

Ziva and Delilah made pendants similar to the one Breena had made with the birthstones of their families. Ziva also included the Star of David and a cross in her pendant to show both her own and Tony's heritage. Abby chose to make a skull with bright red eyes and black wire to form the face. Ziva and Delilah whispered to each other, "That is SO Abby!"

At 1415, Ziva chose the open swimming session and swam laps. Breena and Delilah went to a clay bead making session, while Abby went back to the bowling session. Abby stayed at the bowling session for the final afternoon classes at 1600. Breena, Ziva and Delilah met at the board games session. Ziva and Delilah played Scrabble with two other women that they had met on the gardens walk. Breena played Hearts with several women she had met on Friday night.

At 1715, they all went back to the suite to dress for the dinner at 1800. Ziva had a gray skirt suit with a red blouse. She joked with Delilah that she hadn't dressed up that much in a long time. Delilah had a navy pants suit with a peach colored blouse. Breena wore a black sheath dress with a three quarter sleeved jacket and Abby had a black pencil skirt with a black and white striped blouse and jacket. The sisters made their way to the dining room, with the other women in the retreat. Each one was handed a table number and a place card with her name.

Delilah was at table 3, Ziva at table 5, Abby at table 8 and Breena at table 10. Ziva put her place card on the table to mark her place. She was the first to arrive at her table, so she chose a seat that faced the podium. Delilah was the third person at her table, and she chose a seat that allowed her to comfortably place her wheelchair at the table, but also be out of the lane of people passing thorough. Both Breena and Abby were the second person at their tables, and chose seats facing the podium as Ziva had.

Abby's table filled first and she was excited to learn that one of her tablemates was hearing impaired. The two chatted in sign language and sat side by side for the dinner. Breena had several women at her table who were business owners, including a florist and a travel agent. Delilah's table had seven women, and two of the others worked in different areas of DoD. Ziva's table had a woman who was born in Paris, one who had lived in Be'er Sheva for five years, and one who was from Germany. She conversed with the others in several languages and impressed all of the occupants of her table.

"How many languages do you speak, Ziva?" The woman who had lived in Be'er Sheva asked.

"Ten languages," Ziva replied. "I learned them as part of my training many years ago. I use them in my current job as translator. My first language is Hebrew; I was born in Israel."

"Wow. Do your children speak other languages as well?"

"All of my children and my husband are fluent in Hebrew; my oldest two also know Spanish, French, and Italian, as do my husband and I. It makes it easier when we travel to know the language!"

As one of the other women was about to ask Ziva another question, the group was called to order by a speaker at the podium. All turned their attention to the speaker as the room got quiet.

"Welcome to our banquet to celebrate you. I hope you are having a fun and relaxing time this weekend so far. We still have more activities tonight and tomorrow. Now, sit back and enjoy the slide show of you having fun so far." The woman started a slide show playing to Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman." Ziva saw a picture of herself and Delilah in the aerobic dance class and another of her and Breena in the gardens. There was a picture of Abby jumping excitedly when she bowled a strike, a picture of Breena with her tree of life pendant, and another of Delilah making clay beads. Ziva also saw her tablemates in pictures and other women she had met over the day.

As the slide show played, wait staff placed salads on the tables for the first dinner course. The music was silenced and the slide show continued to play as the women ate the salad of mixed greens, tomato slices, cucumber slices, and croutons. When the wait staff had placed the salads, they had noted, by looking at the place cards, who was at each table. As the salads were finished, each person had the entrée that they had chosen the day before served.

Ziva's surf and turf was a lobster tail and filet mignon. She had twice baked potatoes and baby carrots along with the meats. Several others had ordered the same meal, and the rest had the grilled swordfish steak or the Cornish hen entrée. After the entrée was eaten, many remarked that the meal had been excellent. As plates were cleared, dessert was brought out. Other wait staff poured coffee for those who wanted it, or offered tea bags and small pots of hot water.

When Ziva saw that the dessert was baklava, she smiled. Even though the dinner had pretty well filled her up, she would always make room for baklava. She made eye contact with Delilah, who signed "Good food, but full." Ziva smiled and nodded to her sister. She signed back, "Dessert is best." Delilah gave her thumbs up.

"You know sign too, Ziva?" one of the women at her table asked.

"Yes, I was signing to my sister, Delilah. My sister Abby also knows sign as does Abba. He is our father of the heart."

"Abba?" the other woman questioned.

Ziva replied, "Hebrew for father, dad. My children all call their father Abba and me Ima. I call Gibbs Abba. He is my father of the heart. He is more of a father to me than my biological father ever was."

The others were about to ask Ziva more questions, but the call to order from the podium quieted everyone down. The woman spoke to them all, "Just reminding you that the next activity is for the whole group at seven forty five. I hope you all enjoyed your meal. Since it is now seven fifteen, you may want to change into something a bit more comfortable for the evening activities."

Ziva ate the last bite of her baklava as Delilah made her way to Ziva's table. "Are you going to change?"

"Yes, I am going to put on jeans and more comfortable shoes. It has been a while since I have worn heels for any length of time and these are about to come off my feet!" Ziva looked at her sister. "Are you changing?"

"No, I am comfortable in what I have on. Here comes Breena." Delilah pointed behind Ziva. "Are you changing clothes, Breena?"

"YES! I'm ready for some jeans and a t shirt." Ziva and Breena headed in the direction of their suite as Delilah headed to the room for the next activity, promising to save seats for her sisters. Abby was already in the room changing, and the three sisters quickly put on jeans and comfortable tops and shoes. They headed to the main activity room, and quickly spotted Delilah, who waved them over to the seats she had saved.

Chantal and one of the other personal coordinators called the group to order. "You will notice that there are word signs hung around the room. Your first assignment is to find the word that you most identify with and sit by that sign. Once all have found their word, each grouping around a word will share with the others why that word resonates with them. Any questions?" Chantal looked around, and saw no one with a hand raised or looking as if they had a question. "Okay, then, find your word!"

Eighty women moved around the room, reading the words. Ziva and Delilah moved together, coming to the word 'career' first. They looked at each other and laughed, and kept moving. Ziva looked around for Abby and Breena, but didn't see them in the sea of others. She also noticed five women sitting by the career sign.

When Delilah and Ziva came to the word 'family,' both stopped. "That is it!" they said together. A few minutes later, Abby and Breena joined them. Several others sat with the sisters, and by the time the entire large group had identified their words, the total number under family was twelve.

Chantal reminded them that now each one would explain why that word resonated with her. Abby spoke up first in the family group. "Family is most important to me. I learned from the best to make family number one priority. In fact, three of my family are also here. Ziva, Breena, and Delilah." Abby pointed out her sisters. "We are sisters of the heart. We made a family with many others when none of us had a family to turn to."

"Gibbs is our father of the heart. He chose each of us to be his children of the heart. Some of us married into the family, some of us were part of the original team that made a family." Breena continued the story of their family. "I married Jimmy who is one of the sons of the heart for Gibbs."

Delilah picked up next, "Gibbs took us all under his wing, and my husband Tim is one of the originals. We all have brothers and sisters in our family of the heart. All of our children are Gibbs' grandchildren, and every one of them calls him Grandpa, a title he is proud to have."

"I am closer to my Abba, father of the heart, Gibbs than I ever was to my birth father. The same is true for my husband, Tony. We are both one of Gibbs' original children of the heart, and along with Tim, we three worked as Team Gibbs for many years." Ziva explained the original connections. "We have a large family and each one of us would do anything to help and protect the others. The children are all cousins, and Abby, Breena, and Delilah are my sisters and Jimmy and Tim are my brothers."

The others explained their connections with the word 'family' and every one of the others commented that the Gibbs' sisters were a hard act to follow. Chantal had been moving about the room, and had stopped to listen to the sisters' story of their family. She had been intrigued by their comments when she met them and with more of the story, was amazed at the connection of the family even though they were not related by blood.

After the large group activity, the final session of the night began at 2115. The choices included relaxation activities, a movie, or returning to individual rooms. Abby and Breena decided to go to the movie, and Delilah and Ziva chose to go back to their suite. Both wanted to read and have some down time to unwind before bed.

Ziva and Delilah both changed into pajamas and curled up on their beds with the books they had been reading. They left the light on in the sitting area for Breena and Abby and left their door open for when the other two came in. They had brought along some wine and snacks for all of them for Saturday night girls' time.

Abby and Breena came into the suite from the movie about 2300, chatting about the film. Abby looked into Ziva and Delilah's room, "We're going to change to our pjs and then we can all have a pajama party!"

Ziva finished the chapter in her book and placed a bookmark in the page. She and Delilah grinned at each other as they went into the sitting area, where Abby had already taken the wine and cheeses out of the mini-fridge and put out cups and plates. Ziva helped Abby open the packages of crackers, nuts and chips, as Breena brought out the brownies she had made. Delilah poured wine for each of them.

Abby raised her cup to her sisters, "To family! I love you all." Breena, Delilah and Ziva raised their cups to Abby's toast.

The four chatted about the weekend activities and the retreat in general as they drank wine and ate the snacks. They shared stories and memories, many of NCIS, and their NCIS family. Ducky was remembered and a toast was made to his memory by Breena.

Breena remembered the long ago NCIS Christmas party when Tony kept trying to get Ziva under the mistletoe. Abby asked Ziva if she remembered that only she and Tony were dancing with almost all of NCIS watching. Ziva blushed, and nodded, "Santa Gibbs made sure we remembered."

"How long did you love Tony before then?" Abby asked. "When did you know that he loved you too?"

Ziva looked at Delilah, who smiled at her sister, "I have loved Tony since I met him. And I think I have known that he loved me too since we met."

"Well, it took you two long enough to get together!" Abby had watched her friends dance around their feelings for each other for many years.

Delilah could see that Ziva was not going to say anything to change what Abby thought, even though she and Tim knew that Tony and Ziva had been close for a long time, and that there was a lot more to their story. Delilah decided to change the focus of the discussion, "Abby, when did you know that you and Leon loved each other?"

Abby smiled, "We were friends for a long time. Even though he has to put on a gruff exterior at work since he is the Director, he has a much softer, gentler side to him. One night he stayed late and I was working in the lab on some DNA tracing. He came down to the lab to tell me to go home for the day. He turned to leave, and thinking that I wouldn't leave, asked me to go to dinner with him. At dinner, we talked about family and everything but work. Both of us enjoyed the time together, and we started having dinner together several times each week. The rest is history, I guess, because we have been married, what, two years now."

The four sisters laughed and talked and finished off the wine and snacks. They all finally wound down and went to bed about 0300.

Ziva again awoke about 0445, missing Tony. She sighed to herself, missing their early morning time for just them. Delilah heard Ziva sigh, "Are you okay, Ziva?"

"Missing Tony. Early mornings are our time for each other."

Delilah smiled to herself again, "Oh. OH, I get your drift!" She had realized what Ziva meant. "You'll be extra busy tomorrow morning then…"

Ziva smiled at the thought, "We have two missed days to make up!"


	3. Sunday, 7 April

Chapter 3: Sunday, April 7

Abby's alarm clock sounded at 0700. Abby popped out of her bed, gathered her toiletries and headed to the bathroom to shower. Breena rolled over and went back to sleep until her alarm sounded at 0800. Delilah's alarm sounded at 0730 and she was surprised to see Ziva's bed neatly made and no sign of Ziva. She headed to the bathroom to get her morning routine done.

Abby was the first one out to the sitting area, and she stopped when she spotted Ziva curled up and sound asleep on the love seat with her book under her arm. Delilah came out of her and Ziva's shared room to see Abby with her fingers over her lips. Abby pointed and Delilah saw Ziva asleep on the love seat. Breena came out to the sitting area and wondered what Abby and Delilah were looking at. She spotted Ziva curled up on the love seat. Delilah motioned the other two towards their room.

"I think she missed Tony and couldn't sleep." Delilah informed the other two. "She woke up early both yesterday and today. She said that she missed him and that early morning was their time together."

Abby nodded, "They have always had a very physical relationship. Always need to touch the other or get in each other's personal space."

"Should we wake her up?" Breena asked the others.

Delilah knew Ziva didn't like to be startled, but she was sure Ziva would want to get breakfast. "Since it's already 0820, and breakfast ends at 0900, I think we should. Just do it gently."

Abby and Breena looked at Delilah. She looked back at them and realized they expected her to wake Ziva. She wheeled over to the loveseat. "Ziva, hey, sister. Time to wake up." She put a hand on Ziva's shoulder very gently. "Ziva…"

Ziva grabbed the hand on her shoulder, startling Delilah. She opened her eyes to a wide-eyed Delilah looking at her. "Sorry, I did not mean to alarm you. Is it time for breakfast?"

"Um, yeah. I should be the one apologizing."

~Sisters~

After breakfast, Abby and Breena went to the worship service, while Ziva and Delilah decided to try the water color painting class. Both had fun, but they agreed that LJ and Gibbs had nothing to worry about in competition from either of the sisters. Delilah asked Ziva if she planned to show her painting to LJ, and Ziva shrugged, "Maybe. I do not think it is a very good painting. LJ's work is way better than mine."

"Ziva, your painting is much better than you give yourself credit. LJ would appreciate if you shared, I'm certain."

At 1100, Abby and Ziva went to the meditation session. Breena went to a special session for business owners, and Delilah headed to one of the discussion sessions. They met in the dining room at 1220 for the last meal of the retreat. As they got to the food bar, Ziva let out a small laugh; lunch was salad and pizza. There was even a meat pizza that had pepperoni and sausage. Delilah noticed the pizza and remarked to Ziva, "I wonder if it has extra cheese?"

"It would not last long at my house then," Ziva laughed.

The final session, at 1315, was a large group session. Each participant had a fifteen minute relaxation massage during the session and also participated in other relaxation activities. Ziva and Delilah were on side by side massage tables when their turn came. Ziva made note of some of the lower back massage techniques. They were similar to lower back relaxation exercises she had learned in her training. She would try the techniques on Tony to help with his lower back aches and pains.

Delilah liked the two minute "pick me up" exercise that could be used to relieve stress in the upper back, shoulders, neck and face during the work day. She would remember that when she was stressed at work the next time.

At 1530, the group activities were over. The four sisters went back to their suite one last time to gather their belongings and check out. As Ziva and Delilah were checking in their bedroom for any stray items, Delilah looked at Ziva and grinned, "I'm glad you were my roommate this weekend, Ziva. I feel that we have gotten closer."

Ziva agreed, "Yes, I have enjoyed spending the time with you this weekend. You are the closest of my sisters." The two shared a hug and then picked up their weekend bags and headed out to the living area and then to checkout with Abby and Breena.

On the drive home, the four shared their thoughts on the weekend, and talked about the sessions they attended. Abby said that her favorite was the bowling; Breena chose the jewelry making and garden walk sessions as her favorites. Delilah had to think on her favorite; she had enjoyed all of the sessions. Ziva liked the garden walk the best, followed by the jewelry making session, but noted that she had liked all of the sessions she had attended.

"The best part was spending a weekend with my sisters! I love you all!" Abby declared, and the other three quickly agreed.


End file.
